Newfoundland introduces new immigration stream to help reunite immigrant families

The provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador has recently added a new immigration stream to its Provincial Nominee Program (NL-PNP), which would allow immigrant families living in the province for at least one year to sponsor their overseas family members wishing to relocate and work in the province.

The specialty of this new Family Connections category is that it will allow eligible sponsors in Newfoundland and Labrador to sponsor their overseas family members, which are not covered in the regular Family Class category of Federal immigration program. These include brother and sister (plus step brother and sister), brother and sister in-law, uncle, aunt, first cousins, niece, nephew, grandchild, and son and daughter (plus step son and daughter).

To be eligible, these overseas family members (or beneficiaries) must have to fulfill few conditions in terms of age, guarantee of settlement assistance from their sponsor, education/training, job experience, language skills and settlement funds.

For the sponsors, it would be necessary that they must be living in Newfoundland and Labrador for at least twelve consecutive months, must be self-supporting, and able to provide settlement assistance to family members during the immigration process and after arrival.

Primarily, the provincial government has imposed no limit to the number of family members that can be sponsored nor require that a sponsor earn a minimum income before being eligible to support a family member.